


Nora//Wally West x OC

by PersonaShadowEgo



Category: DC - Fandom, Young Justice
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22901800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersonaShadowEgo/pseuds/PersonaShadowEgo
Summary: “My mom gave me my speed so I could protect people, Wally. What kind of daughter would I be if I didn’t use it to my full potential?”Nora Kneight has a job to do. With 6 younger siblings and a deadbeat dad, she had a lot on her plate. But her mom died trying to give Nora the power of speed to protect people. And Nora wasn’t about to let her down. After being convinced to join The Team, Nora’s whole philosophy is questioned. And she starts to wonder if her mother would be proud or worried. And how will she get through it all while comparing herself to a certain red headed speedster?Oh take me back to the start
Relationships: Kid Flash/Original Character(s), Wally West/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. Chaotic Kneights

“Nora! Get in here!” Dad yelled. I sighed putting the dishes I was washing back in the sink. I walked into the living room where my father was watching tv while drinking a Corona. 

“Yes dad?” I asked. 

“Get your little shit of a sibling to shut up!” He yelled. I could hear Carlan crying from his room in the background. Shit he had woken up from his nap. I rushed into his room and turned on the lamp. 

“Hey there blumpkin, don’t be upset, Nora’s here to make your day better.” I said in a sing-song voice, picking up my 8 month old brother from his crib. He settled down once I bounced him a few times. I put him in a baby sling on my chest and went back to doing the dishes. Lord knows dad would throw a tantrum if I didn’t get all the chores done. I had almost finished the dishes when I heard a crash from the living room. Sighing I went to see what had happened. Dad has passed out and dropped his empty beer bottle on the floor, it smashing into pieces. I went and got a broom and moved Carlan to my back to keep him away from the glass. I started sweeping up the glass when I heard two pairs of tiny footsteps running towards the living room. 

“Nora! Lucy won’t sha-“ Winona started to yell but I cut her off. 

“AH! BROKEN GLASS!” I yelled. Both Lucy and Winona froze in their spot since this wasn’t the first time I’ve had to clean up broken glass. I continued sweeping it up. “Ok now, what’s going on?” I asked calmly. Lucy and Winona went into a whirlwind again. 

“Lucy won’t share her Flash action figure even though it’s my turn to play with it!” Winona whined. Lucy shoved her. 

“That’s cause the last time you played with it you broke his arm!” Lucy yelled back. They continued arguing with each other. 

“Enough!” I said sternly. They both stopped yelling instantly. “Lucy, it’s not fair that Winona doesn’t get to play with the Flash. If it breaks again I’ll just fix it again ok?” I said. Lucy mumbles a defeated ok while Winona started smiling and cheering. Lucy stormed back to her room, upset that she would have to share their co-owned Flash action figure. Before Winona went to go claim her turn for the action figure she turned back to me. 

“Hey Nora, when’s mommy gonna come home?” She asked. I tensed. Mom had died 8 months ago, but Winona was only 4, she didn’t understand stuff like that. 

“Moms not gonna come back, but it’s ok, I’ll do everything that she did, it’ll be like she’s still here ok?” I said smiling at Winona. I had to be ok for them. She nodded before going back to her and Lucy’s room. I continued cleaning up the glass and hissed when a piece got stuck in my palm. I pulled it out and threw it in the trash can before looking up. “I’m trying my best mom, but he’s really getting on my last nerve.” I said to no one, hoping maybe my mom heard me wherever she was now. 

“Hey Nora!” I heard Sean yell for me. I turn around and see him standing at the hallway entrance. I rush over to him. 

“Sean! Where’s your oxygen mask?! You know you’re supposed to wear it 24/7!” I said. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me. 

“Who cares right now, You gotta see this!!” He exclaimed before pulling me into his and his siblings room. They were all sitting around the small junky cable tv I had gotten them from Goodwill. On the tv was a scene of the Hall of Justice. Sean pulled me to sit down next to him. 

“The Justice League’s sidekicks are getting access to the Hall of Justice today! They’re finally gonna start becoming full League members!!” Sean exclaimed excitedly. All my little siblings were staring at the screen either in awe or the greatest amount of happiness I’ve seen them have for a long time. 

“Look! It’s The Flash and Kid Flash!” Mattock yelled drawing all my siblings attention to the two speedsters on the screen. They all started squealing and going on and on about The Flash. Ever since my mom was rescued by the Flash from a mugger awhile ago, they practically worshipped the guy. They had begged me for months to get them the singular Flash action figure that they all shared. Dad doesn’t work, and because if there being 7 of us and Sean’s leukemia treatment, I work 3 jobs to keep us afloat; a waitress at a diner, a cashier at the convenience store near our house, and I work in a laundromat. 

“NORA!!” Lucy screamed before jumping up. My hearing aids screeched. 

“Jesus Lucy, not so loud! Now what? What’s wrong? Are you ok?” I said worried, concerned about her sudden outburst. She pointed to the screen violently. 

“You could be a sidekick!! You run just as fast as Kid Flash! You could be a superhero!” She yelled. The rest of my siblings jumped up in excitement at this idea. 

“Nora’s gonna be a superhero!” Mattock yelled while dancing around. 

“Woah woah woah,” I said waving my hands around, ”I’m not sidekick material, plus the Flash already has a sidekick.” I said. Lucy shook her head.

“Weren’t you listening? Speedy left because he was tired of being treated like a sidekick, so the sidekicks are teaming up now!” She said. 

“Please at least try!” Winona added in. They started doing the puppy dogs eyes. 

“Oh cmon, you know that’s not fair. And I couldn’t anyways. I have too many responsibilities here.” I said. 

“Nora, you could finally save people like mom wanted. We can handle things here while you’re gone during the day. Please, at least try? For me?” Sean said holding my hand. Sean had always been the most sensible of them all. And how could I look at my 10-year-old brother with cancer and tell him I wasn’t gonna be a superhero for him. I sighed again. It seems like I’ve been sighing too much lately.

“Alright fine,” I said,” I’ll give it a try.”


	2. Saranghae

“So you’re really gonna do it?” Jiyoon asks me, sipping on the green tea boba she had. I nodded. 

“The kiddos convinced me to at least try it.” I said. Jiyoon is my girlfriend of 4 years now. We met in 4th grade when she came to Central City as an exchange student from South Korea, and we instantly connected. When our school put on a production of Dear Evan Hansen, me and her performed If I Could Tell Her together in the play, and so after the show ended, I changed the lyrics to personalize to Jiyoon and I sang it to her as a confession. Needless to say it totally worked. I can’t sing for shit, but she just couldn’t resist my charm. She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Gorgeous black hair, freckles, brown eyes. She’s a goddess in my eyes. 

“Oh my! My hunky handsome lady is gonna be a big time superhero now! Catch me I might faint, it’s too hot for me!” She cries dramatically putting her hand against her forehead. I chuckled and held her hand. 

“I know, however will you be able to handle my sheer sexiness now?” I said wriggling my eyebrows. She smirks and leans in closer to me. 

“Big talk for someone who was screaming my name just the other night.” She whispered in my ear, causing my face to turn bright red and I shrunk back.

“Sh-Shut up!” I fumed. I laughed. God I love her laugh. 

“I’m kidding I’m kidding.” She said trying to control her laughter. I rolled my eyes and kissed her hand. “Ok but seriously, please be careful, I don’t want to lose you. We’re s’posed to get married in a space station one day remember?” She said smiling. My smile matched hers. 

“Of course I remember. And I promise we’ll find that space station one day.” I said, looking down at the matching Saturn rings we had. We had gotten them for each other for our four year anniversary as promise rings, and Jiyoon was hell bent on getting married in a space station. “But I have to say, I don’t see the point, you’re beauty would just outshine all the stars.” I said. She snorted. 

“That was so cheesy.” She said. I put my hands behind my head and smirked. 

“Oh cmon you know you love it.” I said. She giggled. 

“Yeah, I do.” We sat in silence for a moment, just enjoying each other’s presence. I noticed Jiyoon looked different. Her eyes were blood shot, her cheeks were somewhat sunken in, and her skin didn’t have its normal glow to it, instead it looked sickly. 

“Hey Jiji, are you ok? You’re looking a bit rough, NOT THAT YOU DONT LOOK GOOD because you’re always gorgeous in my eyes babe.” I said, stammering over my words. She chuckled. 

“No I get it, it’s ok, I just didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all.” She said. I nodded and left it at that. “Hey, maybe if you get in the mini justice league, the speed boy can help you improve your speed.” She told me. I nodded. 

“Maybe. I mean Kid Flash did recreate the partical excellerator experiment like my mom did. Maybe he’ll know how to improve it all the way.” I said. Jiyoon smiled at me sadly. She knew how much I hated being so much slower than the other speedsters.

“By the way, how are the siblings doing? Are they handling IT well?” She asked. She didn’t even have to say what IT was, I knew she was talking about my moms death. I sighed. 

“Sean’s the only one that’s getting it. The others, they’re just too young to understand.” I said, hanging my head. Jiyoon leaned over and kissed my forehead. 

“Hey, it’s ok, they’ll understand eventually, and we’ll be there for them when they do.” She said. I smiled when she said we. 

“I like that. We.” I said. She smiled, before her phone started ringing. 

“Crap, it’s my host mom, I’ve gotta get home.” She said. I stood up with her as she grabbed her purse. I pulled her to me and kissed her on the lips. 

“Get home safe ok?” I said holding her hands. She nodded. 

“I will, and good luck, my knight in shining spandex.” She said before walking out to go home. I smiled to myself. We’d been dating for 4 years and the butterflies she gave me still haven’t gone away. I rolled my shoulders before walking out of the coffee shop we were at. 

“Alright mom, wish me luck.”


	3. Velocity

I sped around trying to find any whereabouts of the sidekick team. I had spent so long looking for anything that I ended up in Happy Harbor, a town that would take at least 2 days to get to normally, but with my speed it only took me a few hours. It was strange that I couldn’t find any criminal or super activity between Central City and here though. I puffed my cheeks getting annoyed at not finding anything. I didn’t want to disappoint my siblings with not at least trying to join the sidekicks. Just as I was about to give up and head back, I heard an explosion from a nearby power plant. I smiled knowing where there was explosions, there was superheroes. I sped towards the explosion, stopping just outside the power plant. I saw behind it the group of sidekicks were fighting some dude that could throw twisters. My breath hitched when I saw Kid Flash. I had never been like a super fan, but my siblings looked up to him, and my mom based her experiments off his own, so it was a pretty surreal moment. He ran at the twister man, trying to get close to him, but he had to dodge a whirlwind thrown at him. Robin threw some batarangs at him but the just blew up in the whirlwind. Then the Superboy tried to hit him from above, but got thrown back by another whirlwind. Tornado man picked up a boat from the harbor and threw it at the sidekicks, but it missed and hit the plant behind them, crumbling it to the ground. It looked like they could use some help. This would be my first time fighting an actual villain instead of some alleyway thug. I took a deep breath and pulled my goggles down. 

“Alright Nora. Let’s go show them what you’re made of.” I said to myself before speeding into the middle of the field. “Hey panini head!!” I shouted out. The tornado man and all the sidekicks turned to look at me. I put my hands on my hips and stuck one hip out. “Shouldn’t you be picking up a house in Kansas right about now?” I asked before running towards the tornado man. He threw several whirlwinds at me but I dodged them before getting close enough to deck him in the face. “Critical hit! 50 points to Nora!” I said before running out of the way of his fist. “Pretty slow for a supervilla-“ I didn’t get to finish because I was picked up by a twister and thrown behind the sidekicks into the rubble of the power plant. “Geez he packs a punch. Storm chasers must hate him.” I hissed out, knowing that was gonna bruise a lot later. Just then Red Tornado descended from the sky. 

“Hit the showers boys. I was hoping you could handle this, but clearly you could not.” He said. 

“But we’ve got a plan now!” Robin said stepping towards him. 

“The subject is not up for debate!” Red Tornado said. The sidekicks solemnly stepped back. I felt bad for them, they were just trying to do their job. 

“I was beginning to believe you would never show up.” Twister man said to Red Tornado. 

“I’m here now.” Red Tornado said, throwing a tornado at twister man, but twister man just blocked it with another twister. Strange physics, I don’t quite understand it. “We are evenly matched Twister.” Red Tornado said throwing rocks at tornado man with a tornado. So, Tornado Man’s name must be Twister.

“No Tornado, we are not.” Twister said, blocking the rocks. He then shot electricity at Red Tornado, hitting him and making him fall to the ground. He approached Tornado before extending his hand and sending wires connecting to Tornado’s head. 

“Be still Android.” He said. 

“Hell no!” I yelled before getting up and speeding at Twister. Just as I was about to make contact he swung his other hand out, knocking me away into the ground. I slid in the dirt several feet. I groaned feeling the impact of hitting the ground. 

“The reprogramming won’t take long.” Twister said. Suddenly Red Tornado’s head turned into the head of a green girl. 

“Longer than you might think.” She said. Red Tornado threw another twister at Twister, throwing him around, but the twister turned into Kid Flash. Ok I got to admit that’s pretty cool. Twister turned around to find Superboy behind him and Superboy punches him into the water. Suddenly he gets thrown back out of the water onto the concrete. Speeding up to him, I roundhouse kick him in the face, putting the force from my velocity into the kick, throwing him back over to the sidekicks. “Red Tornado” turned into a girl with green skin and she telepathically picked up Twister and tore him apart. Then Robin threw some batarangs at him and he blew up and fell to the ground. All the sidekicks walked up to him, including me, but I held back slightly. Suddenly Twister popped open and a scrawny human tumbled out. 

“Foul. I call foul.” He said. The green girl picked up a boulder and smashed the guy with it. 

“Jesus!” I yelled, flinching when she did so. 

“I don’t know how you do it on your planet, but on Earth we don’t execute our captives!” Robin yelled at her. 

“You said you trusted me.” She said smiling. She picked the boulder up and revealed that the guy was actually a robot. I ran up to the crushed robot picking up its arm. 

“So cool!” I said, looking at all the parts in it. The sidekicks walked up to the robot. 

“That’s why I couldn’t read his mind.” The green girl said. Kid Flash bent down and picked up the robots eye. 

“Souvenir. Cool.” He said pocketing the eyeball.

“Now that Mr. Twister is taken care of, who the hell are you?” Robin said turning to me. The rest of the team now turned to me to. What did I tell them? I didn’t have a hero name but I can’t tell them my real name. I guess I’ll have to make something up.

“Velocity’s the name, don’t wear it out.” I said chucking the robotic arm back down and pointing a finger gun at them. 

“You’re another speedster?” Kid Flash asked in disbelief. I spun around and poked my finger into my cheek. 

“Yuperooney! Artificially produced but just as effective.” I said. 

“Why did you help us?” The green girl asked. I shrugged. 

“Cause, I wanna be on your team.” I said. They all looked shocked. 

“Why our team? Why not try and get on the Justice League?” Robin asked. 

“Well to be honest I’ve only had my speed for 8 months now, so I’m not that experienced, but I mean might as well put it to good use y’know.” I said. Kid Flash stepped forward slightly. 

“Woah wait, you mean to tell me you’ve only been a speedster for 8 months?!” He says in disbelief.

“Yup! A brain as fast as his legs I see!” I said laughing. Aqualad walked up to me. 

“Experienced or not, we’d love to have another team member.” He said holding his hand out for me to shake. 

“What?! Hello! You’ve already got a speedster!” Kid Flash said pointing at himself. I laughed shaking Aqualad’s hand. 

“I would love to join your team.” I said. I sped over to KF and put my elbow in his shoulder. “By the way, my little siblings practically worship you.” I said. He looked dumbfounded by my statement and was about to say something when my watch started beeping. It was the alarm I had set telling me I had 30 minutes before Carlan work up. “Whoops! That’s my cue! Gotta run, but I’ll be in touch!” I said, winking at Kid Flash before taking off towards home. Man, we’re my siblings gonna be excited about this.


	4. Protector

I slammed the front door to my house open, immediately being swarmed by my siblings. 

“How did it go?!” 

“Did you meet superheroes?!” 

“Are you gonna join the Justice League?!” My siblings screamed at me. It was a good thing father wasn’t home, or he’d have a fit with all their screaming. 

“Guys! I’ll tell you if you shut up for five seconds!” I yelled over their questions. That shut them all up. I could see the anticipation on their faces. I took a deep breath. “I met Kid Flash.” I said. It was silent for a moment, then ear piercing screams. 

“Oh my god!! Is he as cool in person as he is on tv?!” Lucy screams. 

“Are you friends now?! IS HE GONNA BE ON YOUR TEAM?!” Winona screamed louder than Lucy. My hearing aids screeched. At this rate I was gonna have to get new ones if they keep this habit of screaming about everything. 

“Yes, he’s on the Junior Justice League that I’m on now, no we are not friends yet, and he was cool but I was cooler.” I said, answering all of their questions at once. Taking care of 6 kids gets you used to that. I checked my watch again. “Hey guys, give me a second, I’ve got to go get Carlan up from his nap.” I said. I pushed past my siblings and made my way to Carlan’s room. Stepping into his room I kicked a bottle on the floor. Picking up I realized it was one of my father’s empty Corona bottles. I fumed. He knew he wasn’t allowed to have ANY alcohol anywhere NEAR Carlan’s room. Just then, I heard the front door open, signaling my fathers return. I grabbed the bottle and stormed into the living room. “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” I screamed at my father, shoving the bottle in his face. He just looked at it. 

“A beer bottle you dumb bitch.” He said pushing past me. I grabbed his arm, making him glare at me with rage. 

“I know it’s a beer bottle, but WHY WAS IT IN CARLAN’S ROOM! You know the rules!” I yelled at him. I saw Sean usher my siblings away to their rooms. Good. Considering how this is going, it might get ugly. My father yanked him arm out of my grasp and smacked me across the cheek. 

“It’s my damn house, I’ll do whatever I please!” He yelled. 

“IT’S YOUR HOUSE ONCE YOU START GOING A GODDAMN SOMETHING FOR IT!” I yelled smashing the bottle on the ground next to us. We glared at each other. When father first got like this I would cover in front of him, but once mom was gone, I knew I couldn’t cower to him anymore. I had to set an example for my siblings. I had to show them to stand up for themselves, and that I will always protect them from him. Father growled and he pushed me into the counter. Before I could retaliate he grabbed my hair and slammed my head into the counter. He hit the counter with my head so hard that it made my hearing aids come out, plunging me into complete silence. Stars flooded my vision, but I shook it off and kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled back and I sped over and twisted his arm behind him. He elbowed me in the ribs with his other arm. I grunted but I didn’t let go. I kicked his knees out from under him, bringing him to the ground. I then kneed him in the face, knocking him out. I spit to the side and picked my hearing aids up from the floor, putting them back in my ears, re-entering the world of sound. 

“Fucking alcoholic.” I seethed. I limped over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I had a big gash on my head and a bleeding lip. Lifting up my shirt I saw my ribs already starting to bruise. I groaned. The ribs wouldn’t be too hard to cover up, but the gash was gonna need a butterfly bandage or two. I grabbed my make shift first aid kit from under the counter and pulled out some hydro peroxide and a few butterfly bandages. As I was cleaning the cut on my head, Sean peaked into the bathroom. 

“Are you ok Nora?” He asked quietly. Sean was never good with handling the fights between father and I, but he always checked to see if I was ok afterwards. 

“I’m ok Sean, just a cut, it’ll be fine in a few days.” I told him with a smile. This seemed to make him feel better because he cane in and sat on the tub while I put the bandages on the cut. 

“Remember I have a doctors appointment tomorrow”. He said looking up, seeming scared that I had forgotten. 

“Don’t worry buddy, I didn’t forget. I’ve got my alarm set so we’ll have enough time to get to the doctors. Also I have to get new batteries for my hearing aids on the way back ok?” I said. He nodded. I inspected my work on the gash and nodded. “That should do it.” I said, putting my hands on my hips.

“Are you sure you don’t have a concussion?” Sean asked. I shook my head. 

“I’m sure. I’m fine, really.” I said. I went back into the living room and swept up the glass from the broken beer bottle. “Ok, Sean, I’ve got to go back out again, so I want everyone in bed, doors locked, and I’ll come check on everyone when I get home.” I said, kissing him on the forehead. 

“Ok, good luck Nora!” Sean said before jogging off to get the rest of our siblings in bed. I sped back off into the world, heading back for Happy Harbor. I told Aqualad I would be in touch, but I failed to realize I had no way to be in touch with them. So I figured the best place to start was the place where I found them; Happy Harbor. It took me a few hours and by the time I got there it was almost sunset, but I made it. I went back to the scene of the fight with Twister and stood in the middle of the field. 

“Now if I were a band of sidekicks with authority issues where would I be?” I asked to myself out loud tapping my chin. 

“I figured you’d come back.” I jumped around fists up, but relaxed when I saw it was Aqualad. 

“Geez man, I could’ve decked you. Don’t go sneaking around like that.” I said laughing slightly. I was honestly embarrassed how bad my senses were. I blame my hearing aids for not hearing him.

“My apologies. But I figured since you had no was if contacting us you would return here looking for us.” He said. 

“You guesses correctly!” I said throwing my hands up in the air. He smiled slightly. 

“Come, I’ll show you to the base.” He said, before he started walking off. I jogged after him, knowing if I used my full speed I would pass him. We walked until we came up to an old phone booth in the city. 

“Huh. Smaller than I expected.” I said, referring to the phone booth. 

“The phone booth is just how we get there.” Aqualad said. He typed some numbers into the telephone booth before a bright blue light flashed inside it. 

“Holy holy light.” I said. 

“Follow me.” Aqualad said, stepping into the blue light and disappearing. I hesitated then shrugged my shoulders stepping into the blue light. I saw the light vanish and heard a robotic voice saying “Velocity. B-06.” I opened my eyes and gasped. We were in a base that looked what I’d imagine the Batcave looked like, but less moody. I gasped. 

“Yo this is so cool!” I yelled, zipping around the room looking at everything. 

“Everyone, as you all probably already know, this is Velocity.” Aqualad said, gesturing to me. I looked over my shoulder then sped next to Aqualad. 

“Nice ta meet ya!” I said waving and smiling brightly. The green girl flew up to me. 

“Hi! I’m Miss Martian, but you can call me M’gann!” She said smiling even bigger than I did. Robin stepped up and extended his hand. 

“I’m Robin.” He said. I shook his hand and nodded. I looked over to the Superboy. 

“Superboy.” He said. Aqualad our a hand on my shoulder. 

“As you know I am Aqualad, but my real name is Kaldur’ahm, but you can call me Kaldur.” He said. Suddenly I felt a gust of wind and an arm around my shoulder. I looked next to me to see Kid Flash was the one with an arm around my shoulder. 

“Kid Flash, but the names Wally West, and you can call me anytime.” He said winking. I smiled back at him, my eyes squinting. 

“Charmed, but I’m already taken.” I said pushing his arm off my shoulder. Who knew he was such a flirt. Sure he was cute, but not as cute as Jiyoon. 

“I assume you live somewhere else, but if you need it we have a room here for you.” Kaldur said. My eyes brightened. I could actually stay someplace other than home! I didn’t have to stay with my father! But then I remembered my siblings. I couldn’t leave them behind and I’m sure as hell Batman wouldn’t want them here. I sighed. 

“Thank you so much, I really appreciate it, but I don’t think I’ll be staying overnight here much.” I said. Kaldur nodded. Suddenly I heard M’gann gasp. She flew over to me and grabbed the sides of my head. 

“What happened to your forehead?!” She exclaimed worriedly. I froze. They couldn’t know about father. I put my charisma back on. 

“Oh yknow, just got into a scuffle in the way here. Some big bad street thug though he could handle me but I showed him the ol’ whack and boom! And I totally took him down.” I said, brushing off my shoulder. M’gann laughed.

“Oh so tough.” She said. I smirked. 

“Only the toughest.” I said, flexing my arms, although there wasn’t much muscle to flex. I saw Wally fuming behind M’gann. 

“Hey I’m pretty tough too yknow.” Wally said, running a hand through his hair. I smirked evilly.

“What’s the matter Kid Flash? Jealous I’ve got more flirting game than you?” I said looking at my nails, raising an eyebrow. He scoffed. 

“As if.” He said crossing his arms. I smiled. He sure was fun to mess with. I turned to Kaldur. 

“Well, thank you so much for introducing me and all, but I really gotta get home. Siblings yknow.” I said. Kaldur nodded. 

“It’s a pleasure to have you in this team. We’ll have training tomorrow morning, so please be back here for that.” Kaldur said. I tensed. I hoped it didn’t overlap with Sean’s doctors appointment. 

“Aight I’ll be there.” I said. I left through the teleporter and ran back home. By the time I got back it had to be at least night time. Considering I had run several states and back in one day, I was exhausted. I carefully entered my house and went to my siblings rooms. I used the keys I had to unlock their doors and check on them. We had a sibling meeting one day and all agreed that while I was gone all their rooms would be locked since they couldn’t defend themselves against father. After making sure they were all safe and asleep, I went into Carlan’s room. We didn’t have that much space in our house, and Carlan is still a young baby, so my bed was a mattress on the floor of his room. I looked at Carlan sleeping in his crib. I smiled. He looked so peaceful. Completely oblivious to the chaos around him in our home. I wished he would stay like that forever. I plopped down on my bed, not even bothering to change into pjs, and I fell into a deep sleep.


	5. Vertigo

I ran as fast as I could to Happy Harbor. Sean’s doctor appointment went longer than I expected, and I was so late. When I got to the run down photo booth, I didn’t even stop, I just ran straight through. The zeta tube spat me out on the other side and I skidded halfway through the room trying to slow down. I heard sounds coming from the training room so I sped to it. Busting through the door I saw Kaldur and Superboy sparring. Black Canary walked up to me.

“You’re late.” She said. I scratched the back of my head.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. My little bro’s doctor appointment went late.” I said, smiling sheepishly.

“Couldn’t your parents just take him?” Robin asked crossing his arms. My face fell slightly. 

“No. Our mom died 8 months ago, and dad, uh, doesn’t help out much.” I said. _That’s putting it lightly_ I thought to myself. Suddenly M’gann was hugging me.

“I’m so sorry about your mom.” She said before letting go and smiling. I waved my hand.

“It’s ok, really.” I said, not really convincing myself. I think Wally noticed, cause he walked over to me and flung his arm around my shoulder.

“Hey, join the orphans club. Rob’s adopter.” Wally said. Robin pushed him trying to get him to shut up. Wally just laughed.

“Velocity, I would like to spar with you. We need to know what level of fighting you’re at.” Black Canary said. I nodded and made my way up onto the training pad. Black Canary got into a fighting stance and I copied her. To be honest, I didn’t know how to professionally fight, al I knew was the moves I used on my father. Black Canary lunged at me and I just barely dodged her using my speed. She aimed a kick for my head, but I dropped to the ground under it and got back up before anybody even noticed. I continued to dodge all her attacks, unsure of how to play offense without getting my ass handed to me.

“You dodge well, but you won’t always have your speed. And you can’t win a fight without offense.” She said while aiming a kick for my stomach. Now THAT I recognize. I grabbed her ankle and twisted around, throwing her down. She immediately jumped back up and tried to kick my legs out from under me. I jumped up to avoid being knocked over, but she used that to send a very forceful punch to my chest. I went flying back, rolling on the ground several times before I stopped. A sign saying “Velocity: Fail” appeared on the floor next to me.

“Ow.” I said rubbing my head since I hit it on the floor. Canary helped me up.

“Your offense skills are extremely weak. We’ll be spending extra time training to get you up to par with your teammates.” She said. I grumbled and walked of the mat.

“I’m not used to fighting someone sober.” I mumbled to myself. Suberboy’s head perked up and he turned to me with a confused face. My face turned red. I forgot he had super hearing.

“Hey Velocity, whats your top speed?” Wally asked, propping himself up on the wall next to me. I shrugged.

“I have no idea. I don’t even know how fast I run.” I said. Wally’s eyes widened. 

“You’ve never measured your speed? Geez what kind of a speedster are you?” He said. I rolled my eyes. “Well, whatever, we’re gonna go track your speed.” Wally said before grabbing my arm. Out of reflex I spun him around and pinned him to the floor by his arm. “Jesus! I wasn’t flirting I promise!” Wally yelled. I realized what I did and let him up.

“Sorry. Reflexes.” I said sheepishly. Canary gave me an intrigued look as I followed Wally to the gym. In the middle of the gym was a treadmill that had been upgraded beyond belief.

“This is the treadmill that Flash made for me so I could use use my super speed. And it tracks speed. Hop on.” He said, patting the treadmill. I jumped on it and got in a running stance. “Whenever you’re ready, just run.” Wally said. I braced myself before I took off. Except I wasn’t moving. The treadmill and my legs were moving faster than the human eye could see.

“So cool!” I said, pushing myself to go faster.

“500.” Wally said. I frowned. He and The Flash were both much faster than that. I kept pushing myself to go faster. Eventually, Wally had to go do something else, but I kept going. I was going to go faster.

“570.” I said to myself. Robin and M’gann came in with a water bottle. I took a break to chug the water bottle in 5 seconds flat and started running again. When I reached 600 I went flying off the treadmill, hitting the wall. I heard some hisses before I was picked up.

“Are you ok?” M’gann asked. I shook my head. 

“Yeah. I’m fine. Let’s go again.” I said. I kept going for several hours, and eventually the whole team, excluding Wally, was watching, wanting to see how fast I could go. But every time I tried to go past 680 I would be flown off the treadmill. After hitting the wall several more times, they set up a barricade of pillows against the wall.

“Veloci! Veloci! Veloci!” The team chanted. I could feel my body burning out. My muscles were screaming and my pulse was harder and faster than it should of been.

“690!” Robin yelled, checking the speed. I hadn’t flown off yet, so I pushed harder. I was sweating like crazy and my chest burned. I heard ringing in my ears, but I kept going.

“700!” Robin yelled. The team cheered and once I heard that number called out, I let myself get flung into the wall of pillows. 

“That’s a new personal best! Congrats Velocity!” M’gann said. The team was cheering, but they fell silent when they saw the state I was in. I was on my hands and knees, eyes wide and blood gushing out of my nose. I couldn’t stop shaking violently. I ripped my hearing aids out of my ears and felt blood pour from them too. My heart beat wouldn’t slow down. I was scared. Yeah I’d gotten nosebleeds from overusing my speed before, but I had never come out of it looking like an extra from The Conjuring. Kaldur knelt in front of me, trying to look me in the eyes. I could tell he was trying to say something, but I couldn’t hear him. I couldn’t hear anything except my speeding heartbeat. Robin picked up my hearing aids and showed them to Kaldur. He hesitated for a moment before turning to M’gann and saying something. She flew off who knows where. I stared at the puddle of blood slowly forming on the floor in front of me. I kept furiously wiping at my nose and ears, but the blood wouldn’t stop. Kaldur grabbed my hands and out a gauze pad in each of them. He then moved my hands to my ears, putting the gauze over them. A blur of red and yellow entered the room, and suddenly Wally took Kaldur’s spot in front of me. He looked very serious. He looked in my eyes and felt my pulse. He looked concerned. He tried to say something to me, but I just gently shook my head. I couldn’t hear him. I didn’t know what he was saying. I didn’t know what anyone was saying. Kaldur spoke to him, gesturing to his ears, so I assume he was telling him I couldn’t hear. Wally looked at me sadly for a moment before turning to M’gann and saying something. M’gann hit her forehead like she does when she says “hello Megan” and then looked like she was concentrating.

“Velocity!” I heard in my head. My head snapped up to M’gann. 

“M’gann!” I said in my head. She turned to the others, probably telling them that she was able to talk to me.

“Velocity, what’s going on?” She asked. I shook my head slightly.

“I don’t know. I sometimes get nosebleeds from overusing my speed but never something to this extent!” I thought, panicking slightly. M’gann related what I said to the others. Wally said something to her before turning back to me.

“Wally needs to know how you got your powers.” M’gann said. I looked down in shame. They were about to find out I was just a discount copy of them.

“My mom was a Scientist at STAR Labs. When she heard of the partical excellerator explosion that gave Flash his powers, she wanted to do it to herself. But I volunteered instead since she was pregnant. The experiment worked, but everyone else in the lab died, including my mom. The experiment didn’t completely work though, because I’m much slower that The Flash and Wally, and I get nosebleeds if I exert my speed too much. A side effect of the explosion was I lost my hearing.” I thought. M’gann looked at me sadly before telling the rest of the team what I told her. Wally took my hand and squeezed it slightly. I tried to give him a small smile, but with my current state, it probably looked like a grimace. He said something to M’gann before speeding off somewhere and coming back. 

“Wally says he needs to give you a sedative.” M’gann said. I scooted back slightly. I wasn’t a fan of needles. Wally held my hand again. Our faces were just inches from each other. In any other situation I would be a blushing mess. He mouthed something to me.

“Wally says don’t be scared.” M’gann said. I stared Wally in the eyes, and the look he had on his face just said “trust me”. I took a deep breath and nodded. He stuck a needle into my arm. I felt the sedative start working and I was lowered to the ground before the feeling of tiredness overtook me.


	6. Infiltrator +

“Everyone online?” M’gann asked. I would never get used to this mind link thing.

“Oh this is weird.” Artemis said. 

“And distracting. Coding a distributive algorithm virus in a kiddie computer with less RAM than a wristwatch is hard enough, now I have to hear teen-think in my skull?” Dr. Roquette complained. I scrunched my face up. We were trying to help her, she could at least be a bit grateful. Earlier today, Red Arrow has come to us saying that this Dr. Roquette needed protection from the League of Shadows, so we were keeping guard at a local high school where he had stashed her. Also we have a new teammate! Another girl I might add, her name’s Artemis.

“Lady do you always complain when someone’s trying to help you?” Wally asked. I mentally agreed with him. 

“Pot, kettle. Have you met?” Artemis sassed. I groaned.

“Would you two cut it out? You’ve been arguing all day and frankly it’s giving me a headache.” I said, rubbing my temples. 

“Fate of the world at stake here.” Dr. Roquette said. I rolled my eyes. I was not liking her more and more by the minute. I was on the roof with M’gann standing in patrol. I just kept pacing back and forth. Having to stand and do nothing as a speedster really just doesn’t work well.

****time skip*****

I was running to meet up with Artemis in the main lab when I heard a splash come from a room next to me. My curiosity getting the better of me, I went in. I gasped. I saw Wally floating face down in the pool.

“Shit!” I said, running to the edge of the pool. I reached my arm out to try and grab him, but he was too far away, resulting in me falling into the pool. I brought my head above water and gasped for air. I’m not a fan of water. Grabbing Wally, I pull him back onto the concrete laying him on his back. “Shit shit shit shit.” I said panicking. I put my head against his chest, listening for his breathing. My eyes widened. He wasn’t breathing. I frantically tried to remember how to do CPR, but it had been so long since I’d had to use it I couldn’t remember. “Ok we’re trying anyways.” I said shakily. I started pressing down on his chest. “...28...29....30!” I counted. I pinched his nose and blew air into his mouth, ignoring the heat rising to my cheeks knowing this technically counted as a kiss. I repeated the actions until Wally suddenly started violently coughing water up. I sighed, knowing he was ok, and relaxed a little bit. “Are you ok?” I asked him, concern etched onto my face.

“What happened? Where......did you kiss me?!” He said. I rolled my eyes, cheeks turning red. 

“It was either that or let you die Baywatch.” I said, stealing Artemis’ nickname for him from earlier. He ran a hand through his hair.

“Well next time you want a kiss I’ll be sure to be conscious for it.” He said winking. I snorted and then shivered, just now realizing that I was soaking wet, and it was cold. Wally’s flirty facade fell and he looked at me with concern. “Why are you all wet?” He asked. I glared at him.

“Because I fell in the pool trying to save y-your ass!” I said, stuttering unintentionally from shivering. Before I could process what was happening, Wally had his arms around me. “What are yo-“

“Body heat. It’ll warm you up.” He said. I nodded, not saying anything else. It felt, almost nice. His hugs sort of felt like how it felt when Jiyoon hugged me. I wondered if kissing him felt that good too?

My cheeks flushed once I realized what I was thinking. I had a girlfriend! I couldn’t be thinking like this. I quickly scrambled from his arms and stood up. “We should, uh, go help the others.” I said awkwardly. Wally stood up as well.

“Yeah, ok.” He said.

After we finished the mission, I had decided to just hang at the mountain with the team. I knew I was stalling going back to my father but hey, a little time away won’t kill me. 

“My name’s Nora by the way.” I said, catching my teammates attention.

“Wait you’re just telling us your secret identity?” Robin asked. I shrugged.

“Canary already knows, so might as well. I mean it’s not like you guys know me or anything.” I said. Robin nodded at my response. Suddenly my phone rang. “Oops, gotta take this!” I said, zipping to the other side of the room. I fished my phone out of my pocket and looked at it. It was a number I didn’t recognize. I answered. “Hello?” I asked.

“Hello, is this Nora Kneight?” The person in the other line said.

“This is she...” I said suspiciously. Being a superhero, some random person calling and asking if you’re your actual name, it’s a bit sketchy.

“Since you are on her emergency contact list, im afraid to inform you that Miss Jiyoon Ko is dying.”


	7. 929

I was frozen. I couldn’t hear anything, time was slowed. 

“What?” I said into the phone. 

“It appears it was a cocaine overdose. The doctor isn’t sure if she is going to make it so I suggest you get here immediately.” The nurse on the phone said. Apparently the team noticed my disturbed face because M’gann and Robin we’re looking at me strangely. 

“Are you alright Nora?” M’gann asked. I just dropped my phone as ran out of the mountain as fast as I could. It would take me hours to get back to Central City. I didn’t have hours. I pushed myself as hard as I could. I couldn’t believe what was happening. She wasn’t addicted to drugs, she’s never even done drugs! But, the bloodshot eyes, the paling skin, it was all symptoms of drug abuse. It all made sense now. I can’t believe I didn’t notice! Her own damn girlfriend didn’t even notice! But I swear if I get to her in time I’ll always notice. I’ll never not notice her needing me again. 

I wasn’t going fast enough. I needed to go faster. I pushed myself even harder. I was sweating and panting, and I could feel the blood falling from my nose, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything except getting to her in time. I remembered every memory we shared together. When we swapped lunches in 5th grade and I almost died because I couldn’t handle the spice in her Kimchi noodles, when she took me to South Korea with her and we spent a summer there in 6th grade, the Dear Evan Hansen play where I confessed to her, our first date when we went star gazing. It was the first time she had expressed her love for the stars.

“I wanna get married in a space station one day!” She had said, “I wanna get married among the stars. And I wanna do it with you Nora!” I had cried that date because I realized just how in live with her I was. Now as I ran under the endless stars I just prayed to whatever gods were up there that she would live. I made it to Central City and I immediately booked it for the hospital. I slammed through the front doors and ran up to the front desk. “Which room is Jiyoon Ko?!” I yelled. The nurse at the front desk looked up at me in shock. 

“Oh dear! Your nose is bleeding profusely! I’ll get some kleene-“ she started but I cut her off.

“Jiyoon Ko! I’m here to see Jiyoon Ko! I need to know if she’s alive!” I yelled. I felt tears in my eyes threatening to fall. Just then a doctor came through the doors. 

“Are you Nora Kneight?” He asked. I ran over to him. 

“Yes! That’s me! Is she ok?! Can I see her?!” I said frantically, praying that the love of my life was ok. The doctors face fell.

“I’m sorry, but it was too late to do anything. I’m sorry for your loss.” He said. My breath hitched. The world around me disappeared. 

“No. No she can’t be dead.” I whispered. She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be. She had to be alive. She had to be. Jiyoon.....

My Jiyoon....

I broke down crying. I felt my heart break into a million pieces, dying with her. I sank to my knees on the hospital floor with my head in my hands. I cried out in agony, I cried out for my girlfriend. I could hear the whispers of Kurt around me, but I didn’t care. I had just lost the love of my life, my world. At that moment, I didn’t even exist. My nose was still bleeding, and blood mixed with sweat and tears. I felt a few nurses help me up and put me in a chair while I was hysterically crying. One of the nurses out a Kleenex to my nose to try and get the bleeding to stop. I didn’t know what was going on around me. I was too stuck in my own head. At war between my heart and my head, one saying she’s couldn’t be gone and the other saying she was. The doctor knelt down in front of me.

“Besides her cell phone, this was all she had on her.” The doctor said, handing me Jiyoon’s Saturn ring. I let out a choked cry as I took the ring from the doctor. Our promise rings. We were gonna get married. We were supposed to be together forever. 

She’ll never get to see the stars now.

I sat in that chair crying for what felt like hours before I felt a gust of wind in front of me. Then a familiar head of red hair was kneeling in front of me. 

“Nora, what happened? What’s wrong?” Wally asked with concern, holding my hands. I looked up at him slightly, my eyes red puffy and broken. 

“Jiyoon, she....she...” I couldn’t get it out before I started crying again. Wally pulled me into his lap and hugged me tightly.

“Shhh, it’s ok, I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” He whispered to me, rocking us back and forth while I just cried into him. 

“She overdosed. I didn’t even know she did drugs, Wally, I didn’t even know. My own girlfriend!” I cried. Wally tensed, learning what had happened to Jiyoon. He knew just how much she meant to me. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry.” He said still holding me. My crying subsided slightly and I was just whimpering and hiccuping. 

“How much did you have to push yourself to get here?” Wally asked, leaning back to look at me. I showed him the pile of bloody tissues I had. He hissed. “That bad huh?” He said. I nodded solemnly. He held my hands again, rubbing circles on the back of them with his thumbs. “Do you want to stay at the cave tonight?” He asked. I nodded. He picked me up and we sped off to Mount Justice. As soon as he set me down inside I was bombarded by questions. 

“Nora! What happened?! Are you ok?! Were you crying?” M’gann asked concerned. I just pushed past everyone and swiftly went into the room that was lent me and slammed the door shut. I sat on the bed with my knees tucked into my chest. I could hear Wally telling them what had happened outside and I heard M’gann start crying. She had only met Jiyoon a few times but she adored her. I knew I would have to talk to them eventually, but I just couldn’t right now. I hadn’t realized how much energy that took out of me until I had passed out, dreaming of all my memories of Jiyoon.

_“Lost the love of my life to an ivory powder, and I realized I’m no higher power.” ~ 929, Halsey_


	8. White Flag

It had been two days since Jiyoon died. I hadn’t gone to the mountain since. I just stayed at home, wallowing in my self grief. I knew it wasn’t healthy, but I never did make the best choices. My siblings could tell something was wrong. They could see how distant and out of it I was. But I didn’t want to tell them she was gone. We already lost mom, and they loved Jiyoon. I wanted to spare them the emotional trauma as much as I could. I was in Carlan’s room folding laundry when I heard something that made me get right out of my head. I heard Winona scream. Not an excited scream like she does when she sees the Justice League in tv, but a terrified scream. I dropped the shirt I was holding and ran to her room. She was huddled in the corner with tears streaming down her face while my father was standing over her with a kitchen knife. I immediately lunged at him, slamming him into the wall.

“Winona! Go get Sean! Now!” I yelled. She bolted out of the room crying for Sean. Meanwhile I wrestled my father on the ground for the knife, but his grip was too strong. He backhanded me across the face, making me stumble back and probably breaking my nose. Before I could recover, he lunged at me and I felt a sharp pain in my gut. My blood ran cold. He had stabbed me. My own father had stabbed me. My survival instincts kicked in. I pushed him back and pulled the knife from my stomach. I threw it into his foot, making him cry out in pain. I jabbed my elbow into his face and spun around and kicked him in the gut.

“Nora!” I heard Sean yell. I turned to see him standing at the doorway scared.

“Take my bike outside and get your siblings in it!” I yelled, blocking an uppercut from my father.

“But-“

“NOW!” I yelled. Sean ran out of the room. I had to keep father distracted long enough for them to get out. He grabbed my wrist, but I flipped our hands around so I was gripping his wrist. I brought my other arm down on his forcefully, breaking it. He cried out in pain and I pushed him away. I sent a roundhouse kick to the side of his head before he had a chance to stand up. He went flying into the wall, falling to the ground. He was still conscious, it dazed enough that I could get out. I quickly ran to the bathroom and lifted up my blood stained shirt. The wound would need stitches and it was still bleeding profusely. I sloppily wrapped it tightly, just hoping for it to slow the bleeding long enough for me to get my siblings somewhere safe. I pulled my shirt back down and ran into the living room. On one of the walls was a hole that had been sloppily patched. It was from one of my previous fights with father. When I was fixing the hole, I had hidden an emergency duffel in it and only partially patched the wall so I could get to it. I did that in case anything like this ever happened and we needed to get out quickly. I braved myself and punched through the wall, grabbing the duffel and pulling it out. It split the skin in my knuckles and started bleeding, but that was the least of my worries at the moment. I threw the duffel over my shoulder, grabbed Carlan’s baby swing, and ran outside. Sean was outside with his oxygen tank in his backpack. My siblings were piled into the luggage cart I had attached to my bike, Sean was holding Carlan with Muriel gripping his leg.

“Nora, you’re bleeding.” Lucy said. I picked up Muriel and strapped her into the bike’s car seat behind the main seat.

“I know, but I don’t have time to fix it right now. We have to leave.” I said, putting Carlan in the baby sling on my chest.

“Where are we going?” Mattock asked, peaking out from behind Lucy. They looked like puppies in a cardboard box.

“We can’t stay here anymore, so for now we’re going to go stay with my friends. Sean, our this in the back with y’all.” I said, handing him the duffel. My siblings shifted so Sean could out the duffel in the cart and he climbed in afterwards. 

“Your superhero friends?!” Winona asked excitedly. I climbed on my bike, making sure everyone was strapped in and ready to go.

“Yeah, my superhero friends.” I said. Looking back at our house one last time, I took off on the bike, heading for Happy Harbor. I really had to work on pedaling because the added weight of 6 kids and a duffel bag did not make it easier. I hoped M’gann’s range of what minds she could hear is really far. I reached out with my mind.

“M’gann!” I yelled out in my head. It was silent except for the sound of my pedaling and breathing hard.

“Nora! You’re so far away, where are you?” M’gann answered in my head.

“I’m in Central City. Listen, I’m bringing my siblings to the cave. I can’t tell you why, but we can’t stay at home anymore”. I said. I looked up to see the sun setting. Soon I would have to get a flashlight out to see where I was going.

“I’ll tell Kaldur, but are you ok? You feel really tense and in pain.” M’gann said. I shook my head.

“I’m fine, I’m just riding a bike. I need to go now so I can focus on where I’m going.” I said.

“Ok, but be safe. And I’ll check on you later ok?” M’gann said. I nodded even though she couldn’t see me.

“Ok.” I said. It was silent after that. I looked behind me to see my siblings all fast asleep in the cart and Muriel was asleep in her car seat. I turned back forward. Thankfully it was a full moon tonight, so I didn’t need to stop and get the flashlight out. I scrunched my eyebrows. This would be the first time my teammates would see me in civies. I looked down at my faded yellow tank top with a red and a blue stripe through the middle and my wrinkly maroon combat pants. Not the best first impression but it’ll have to do. The blood stain on my tank top was only growing, and it was partially on Carlan’s baby sling. I would need to wash it later. The gash in my side concerned me, but I didn’t care as long as my adrenaline could keep me alive long enough to get my siblings to safety.

2 days, and a bathroom break at a gas station, later, we finally arrived at Mount Justice. I was exhausted and I had no idea what the state of my gash was was, but we made it.

“M’gann! I need you to open the hangar door!” I said in my mind. A minute later, the hangar door opened and I drive my bike inside. I put the kickstand down and got off.

“Ok guys, we’re here.” I said. My siblings piled out of the luggage cart, awe-ing at the cave’s hangar. I took Muriel out of her car seat and set her on the ground. I out the duffel bag back over my shoulder, holding Lucy’s hand with my right hand and supporting Carlan with my left. 

“You guys ready to meet my friends?” I asked. I heard a chorus of yeahs from my siblings. “Alright. Here we go.” I said. My two lives we’re about to become one. I started walking towards the door to get into the cave. Winona was holding Lucy’s other hand, and Sean was behind me, holding Mattock and Muriel’s hands. I opened the door and we walked into the main room of the cave. The whole team was in there except Wally. They all immediately stood up when they saw us. I wasn’t surprised. My hair was a mess, my face was red, I was covered in sweat and blood, and I was panting hard. Essentially I looked like I had been hit by a bus.

“Nora!” M’gann said flying over to me, Robin not far behind her. Robin took the duffel bag off my shoulder and M’gann helped me get Carlan off of my chest.

“Geez Nora, when you said you had siblings I thought you meant 2 or 3, not 6!” Artemis said, coming over to us. I let out a weak chuckle before letting the past 2 days hit me and passing out on the floor.


	9. Slideshow

“She’s bleeding really bad! Someone get Wally!” M’gann shouted. Robin and Kaldur picked Nora up gently and took her to the infirmary.

“Our dad stabbed her.” Sean said quietly. M’gann turned to him in shock. She was still cuddling Carlan to her chest.

“You’re father did this? Why would he do such a horrible thing?!” M’gann exclaimed. Sean shrugged his shoulders.

“Our dad’s always been mean. Nora’s always protected us from him.” Sean said, shifting on his feet. M’gann and Artemis shared a look of sympathy. M’gann knelt down to Sean’s level and held out her hand.

“I’m M’gann, what’s your name?” She asked. Before Sean could answer, Mattock burst in front of him.

“Are you the M’gann that made brownies for us last month?” He shouted out. M’gann laughed.

“Yup that’s me.” She said. Sean shoves his brother slightly. He shook M’gann’s hand.

“I’m Sean. This is Mattock. That’s Lucy, Winona, and Muriel, and the baby you’re holding is Carlan.” Sean said. M’gann looked down at Carlan. He was stirring slightly so M’gann change dher heartbeat to match Nora’s. He almost immediately calmed down. Robin ran back into the room.

“Kaldur’s looking for Wally. I’m calling the league, there’s something big that’s wrong here.” Robin said, sending a transmission to the Watchtower. Suddenly Wally ran into the main room.

“Where is she?! Where’s Nora?!” He yelled with wide eyes, looking around frantically.

“Infirmary.” Artemis said. Wally ran to the infirmary, Robin following. He went up to Nora lying on the cot, her normal glow now pale and cold.

“It seems she has a broken nose and a stab wound in her abdomen.” Robin said. Wally rolled up her shirt slightly to show her make shift bandage, now completely soaked in blood.

“Get the stitching kit!” Wally said, taking the wrapping off. Robin brought Wally the stitching kit and hydrogen peroxide. Wally wipes off her stomach and grabbed the hydrogen peroxide, hesitating.

“It’s a good thing you’re unconscious, Nora, or this would hurt like hell.” Wally said before pouring the hydrogen peroxide on the hash. The whole thing bubbles and he splashed it a few more times. He wiped away more blood before starting to stitch up the cut. Robin put an IV in her arm and hooked her up to a heart monitor.

“She’s loosing too much blood.” Robin said, setting her nose back into place and taping it. In the main room, M’gann sat with Nora’s siblings, waiting for the league to get there. She was still cradling Carlan to her chest, afraid he would cry if she let go. Nora’s siblings day on the couch next to her, eating the sandwiches she and Artemis had made them.

“Batman. B01. The Flash. B04. Black Canary. B06.” The computer said. Batman, The Flash, and Black Canary emerged from the zeta tubes and marched towards M’gann. She stood up and Nora’s siblings hid behind her.

“What happened.” Batman said sternly, staring at the kids behind M’gann. They were whispering to each other about the Flash being there. 

“Nora’s father attacked them. She brought them here for their safety. But she passed out when she got here and she’s in the infirmary with a Stan wound. Kid Flash and Robin are working on her now.” M’gann said. Carlan started squirming in her arms and crying. “Oh no! What did I do?!” M’gann said, frantically trying to get Carlan to calm down. Black Canary walked up to her.

“He’s uncomfortable. He’s covered in his sister’s blood. Here, let me take him, I’ve taken care of kids before.” Dinah said. She held out her arms and M’gann passed Carlan to her. M’gann just then noticed just how much blood was on Carlan and now her uniform. She shivered slightly, knowing it was her best friend’s blood. Dinah cradled Carlan.

“Hello there little one, lets go get you cleaned up.” She said to him before taking him to the bathroom to give him a bath. Batman was still staring down the kids, and M’gann could tell it was making them uncomfortable. Suddenly, Wally ran into the room.

“Does anyone know Nora’s blood type?” Wally yelled frantically. Sean stepped out from behind M’gann.

“She’s A positive.” He said loudly, trying to sound brave under Batman’s gaze. Wally ran his hands through his hair.

“Crap, I’m A negative. Rob?” He called out.

“I’m B negative.” Robin called from the infirmary. Wally started to panic. Nora had lost too much blood and unless they do a blood transfusion she would die. Flash stepped up.

“I’m A positive.” He said. Both he and Wally looked at Batman, like they were waiting for his approval. Batman gave a single nod and the two rushed to the infirmary. Flash sat on the chair next to Nora and took his glove off and rolled his sleeve up. Wally set up the blood transfusion and they waited.

“It’s working, look!” Robin said, “her pulse is more normal and her color is coming back!” They stayed silent in the infirmary, hoping this would be enough to save their friend.


	10. When Jiyoon Was There

I opened my eyes to see I was surrounded by darkness. I blinked my eyes a few times to see if my vision was messed up, but everything stayed the same. Just inky black darkness as far as the eye could see. I sat up and looked around, noticing the floor reflected what was above it. I stood up, looking for anything that could tell me where I was. A speck of light flickered in the corner of my eye and I spun around towards it. In the distance I saw a small speck of light. Maybe that was the way out! I started running towards it, but realized I was running at a normal speed. My super speed didn’t work wherever I was. After running for what felt like forever, I saw that the light was a figure, sitting and looking up at a starry sky. Walking closer, I froze when I realized who it was. 

It was Jiyoon.

I didn’t understand, how was she here? She’s dead. Does that mean I’m dead too? She turned towards me and smiled. Her gorgeous heart-shaped smile.

“Hi Nora!” She said waving to me. My feet unfroze at the sound of her voice. HER voice. It’s really her. I ran to her.

“Jiyoon!” I cried, jumping into her arms. She laughed and swung me around, holding me tight. I broke away from her with angry tears streaming down my face.

“How could you do this to me! Why didn’t you tell me you had an addiction?! I could’ve helped you!” I yelled, choking back a sob. “We were gonna get married.....We were gonna go see the stars together.” Jiyoon smiled sadly.

“You have enough burdens on your shoulders already. I couldn’t add another.” She said. She sat down again and patted the spot next to her. I slowly went and sat next to her. She was looking up at the stars fondly. “Isn’t it beautiful? All the stars in the galaxy right in front of us.” She said smiling. I shook my head and laughed sadly.

“I was right. You’re still more beautiful than all the stars.” I said. She smiled at me. We sat in silence looking at the cosmos above us. Our hands intertwined between us. I missed this. I missed her.

“I know you like him.” Jiyoon said turning to me. I spun my head around to look at her quickly.

“What?” I asked, confused by what she meant.

“Wally. I know you like him, and don’t even try to deny it, I know you better than anyone else.” She said. I held my head down in shame. It was one thing trying to admit it to myself, but having my dead girlfriend say it is much different. “He really cares about you. Look.” The floor between us shifted to show the medical room in the cave. Jiyoon knelt beside it, looking in. I copied her and looked at the scene. I saw myself lying unconscious on the cot and Wally next to me. His hair was a mess and his eyes were bloodshot.

“Why does he look so horrible?” I asked.

“He’s worries about you. He hasn’t left your side since you got there, not even to eat or sleep. He cares about you. I think he might even love you.” Jiyoon said smiling. I watched Wally hold my hand, silent tears falling down his face.

“I don’t want to replace you.” I cried out, digging my face into my hands, trying to control the rivers flowing from my eyes. Jiyoon pulled my hands away from my face and scooted closer to me.

“You’re not replacing me. I know you’re not replacing me. You’re moving on. You need this.” She said. I out my hand on the side of her face, running my fingers through her gorgeous ebony hair.

This was the last time I would be able to touch her like this.

“I can’t. I can’t do that to you!” I said. She laughed.

“Nora, it’s ok. Look at me, I’m among the stars now, hell, I AM one of the stars. I’m ok. Let me go. Let him in.” She said. She stood up and offered a hand to me. I took her hand and stood up, squeezing it tightly.

“I’ll miss you.” I said quietly. She smiled sadly.

“I’ll miss you too. You were such an important part of my life, as I am to you.” She said. I shook my head, my heart in pain, more tears falling.

“I can’t do this without you, I can’t survive.” I cried, my voice cracking. Jiyoon pulled me into a hug. I knew this wasn’t real. She didn’t smell like Jiyoon.

“You can, and you will. Let your friends help you. Let Wally and M’gann and Kaldur help you.” She said. I nodded. If that’s what she wants then I’ll do it. She kissed me on the lips passionately. Tears were still streaming down my face, and I felt a single tear flow from her eye onto my cheek. 

This was the last time I would ever kiss her.

This was the last time I would ever feel her touch.

This was the last time I would ever hear her voice.

The last time I would ever hear her laugh.

The last time I would ever feel her love.

This was the last time.....

“Follow the stars that way, and you’ll wake up again.” She said, pointing towards a path made out of stars. “I’ll love you forever. Live for me. Now go!” She said. She swung me around towards the path. I started moving, our arms outstretched. Our hands stayed intertwined a little longer, then my fingertips slipped from her touch.

The last feeling from her touch I would ever have, now gone.

I ran across the path, only stopping when a light started to envelop my vision. I quickly turned around to see Jiyoon waving from across the bridge of stars.

“You’ll always be my favorite star in the sky! I’ll never forget you!” I cried out. The light completely enveloped me.

“I love you!”

Then I woke up.


	11. The Scientist

“Woah! I can’t believe you’re a supermodel back home!” I exclaimed, looking at the magazine Jiyoon gave me. One the cover was a picture of my girlfriend, Jiyoon. She laughed.

“Yeah, and not only that, but I was named third sexiest model in South Korea.” She said. I furrowed my brows and shook my head.

“No, that’s entirely incorrect. You should be number one.” I said with the most serious face I could muster. Jiyoon snorted, making me laugh at how cute she was.

“Alright love birds, the fried kimchi noodles are ready.” My mom said, bringing several bowls into the dining room and setting them down in front of us.

“Thank you Mrs. Kneight!” Jiyoon said before digging in to her noddles.

“Yeah thanks mom!” I said, taking a bite of my noodles, and immediately regretting it because I forgot how spicy kimchi is. “Oh Jesus that’s hot!” I yelled, downing half a glass of milk I had. I heard Jiyoon laughing. “What’s so funny about me dying?” I said between coughs. Jiyoon waved her hands around.

“No, I’m not laughing at you dying, I’m laughing at how red you get when you eat spicy foods.” She said chuckling. She wasn’t wrong. Any form of spice made my face turn into a raspberry. My mom chuckled slightly too.

“Changing subjects! Mom, hows the experiment research coming along? Are they almost ready to do it?” I asked eagerly. My mom set her chopsticks down.

“From what Johnson tells me, they’re making progress, but not enough to begin trials yet.” She said, fixing her glasses. My shoulders slouched. It had been 8 months since we started research for the partial accelerator recreation, and I was getting antsy.

“It’s safe for Nora right? Like, she won’t get hurt?” Jiyoon asked worriedly. My mom nodded and out her hand on Jiyoon’s shoulder. 

“Of course Jiyoon, we would never begin trials unless Nora was 100% safe.” She said. Jiyoon sighed, relaxing a bit. That relaxation didn’t last though, because our front door was slammed open.

“Helena! Get me a beer wench!” My dad yelled, entering the house. My mom sighed.

“Why don’t you girls take your noodles and go keep an eye on your siblings.” She said getting up. My face fell. I knew what she really meant. Things were about to get ugly and she didn’t want us in the crossfire. I nodded.

“C’mon Jiyoon.” I said, taking her hand, my other holding my bowl. We went down the hallway and into Sean’s room where all my siblings were. I made sure to lock the door behind us. “Hey guys, whatcha doing?” I asked sitting down, Jiyoon doing the same.

“Watching Batman and Wonder Woman giving a speech.” Lucy said. As soon as Jiyoon sat down, Winona climbed into her lap. Winona has always loved Jiyoon. I heard yelling come from the living room and my mood darkened.

“Are mom and dad fighting again?” Sean asked. I nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah they are.” I said sadly. I flinched when I heard a loud slap coming from the living room. I scowled and clenched my fists. I hated that I couldn’t help my mom. I had only been taking Judo classes for a couple of weeks, so I wasn’t strong enough to stand up to my father yet. Jiyoon put her hand over my fist, making me relax slightly.

“Just a couple more months, then you’ll be able to protect all of them.” She said. I sighed, wanting to get the experiment done as quickly as possible.

I was in position, ready at the starting line, my competitors next to me. I was on my school’s varsity track team, and we were doing a meet.

“KICK THEIR ASSES BABY!!” Jiyoon yelled from the stands. I laughed slightly and blew her a kiss. Every track meet, Jiyoon would be there with some sign she made to support me. This time it said ‘GO FAST NORA’ in big glittery letters. I evened my breathing, waiting for the ref to start the race. As soon as the ref blew the started pistol, I was off. I had always wanted to be the fastest, so I trained extra hard for track, judo helped too. And it paid off too because I was the fastest on my team. I was already far ahead of my opponents when I finished the first lap.

“1!” I heard Jiyoon and my mom yell from the stands. I saw a girl from the Metropolis track team gaining on me, so I pushed myself harder, going faster. My legs were burning but I kept running. I passed the second lap 1 minute and 30 seconds later.

“2!” Mom and Jiyoon yelled. My mom has a packet of store bought sushi with her that she was feeding off of. The whole time she’s been pregnant with my baby sibling she’s had cravings for a lot of Asian food. She blames Jiyoon for getting her into the stuff. I had lapped about half of my opponents at this point, and I was close to the finish line. As soon as I crossed it, everyone supporting Central City cheered. I clumsily came to a stop, breathing hard. My Central City Running Team tank was soaked with sweat and I smelled like a construction worker. Jiyoon came running into my arms and I picked her up and kissed her. She was so light it made it easier to pick her up, and she never seemed to mind my sweat.

“That’s your third win this season! Congratulations babe!” She said smiling. I say her down and thanked her, before my mom came up to me and hugged me. I hugged her back, careful of the giant baby bump she had.

“I’m so proud of you honey comb.” She said. She calls me honey comb a lot because she says my hair looks like honey. I nestled my head into her shoulder.

“Thanks mom.” I said. I received the medal I won and they took a few pictures for the school paper. Jiyoon came up to me and slapped me on the back.

“Now let’s go home, cause you smell like a rat’s ass and need a shower.”

I jumped off of my bike at the hospital, quickly parking it in the bike rack they had, still in my school uniform. My mom has gone into labor last night, but she said I still had to go to school. So as soon as the final bell rang I raced to the hospital. I ran inside and up to the front desk.

“Which room is Helena Kneight in?” I asked panting. The receptionist looked at her computer quickly before turning back to me.

“Room 312.” She said. Without even saying a thank you, I raced down the hallway to the staircase. Taking the steps two at a time I ran up the stairs until I got to the 3rd floor. I ran down the hallway and skidded to a stop when I almost passed the room. 312. I burst through the door and froze. I saw my mom in the hospital bed, a baby in her arms. She looked up at me and smiled brightly.

“Nora, come meet your new baby brother.” She said before looking back down at the baby. I slowly approached the bed, standing beside it.

“What’s his name?” I asked quietly, not taking my eyes off of the baby.

“His name is Carlan.” She said. She handed Carlan to me and I held him in my arms. He had a tuft of ginger hair on his head and the rosy cheeks I had when I was a baby. He opened his eyes slowly and bright blue eyes stared into mine. Our mom’s eyes. My pupils displayed as I fell in love with my baby brother. I petted his hair slightly.

“I promise that I will love you and protect you with my life until the day I die.”

“Are you ready Nora?” My mom asked over the intercom. It was the day after Carlan was born, and we were finally ready to do the experiment. I stood in the room with the partial accelerator. My mom wore her lab coat and stood behind 3 thick layers of bulletproof glass with the other scientists that were working on the experiment.

“Yeah. I’m ready.” I said. I saw my mom gesture to the other scientists and they all started working. The partial accelerator cane to life, building up energy.

“I know this is scary honey comb, but you’re going to be perfectly fine, I promise. I love you very much.” My mom said over the intercom. I smiled.

“I love you too mom!” I said loudly, not knowing if she could hear me from behind the bulletproof glass. I braved myself, waiting for the partial accelerator to build up enough energy and explode. Suddenly a red light started flashing and an alarm blared. My nerves spiked and I looked over to the scientists. They were all running around frantically, and my mom looked worried. My heart froze.

Something was wrong.

The room shook as the accelerator started sparking. I backed away from the accelerator slightly, my hair flying from the wind produced by it. I heard a banging and turned to see my mom pressed against the glass, pounding her fist against it, a terrified look on her face. She was yelling my name, but the glass kept me from hearing her. 

And suddenly, an explosion.

A white light blinded my vision and I felt myself get thrown back and hit something. It felt like I had been electrocuted. I couldn’t hear anything except the ringing in my ears. I opened my eyes slightly and saw the lab in shambles. Smoke was everywhere and burning debris fell around me.

“Mom?!” I yelled out. I scrambled up and tried to run to where the safe room was, but when I tried to run I moved in a blur and I was on the other side of the lab. My eyes widened in shock. It worked. I had super speed. I had to tell mom. I clumsily zoomed around the lab trying to find my mom.

“Mom?!” I yelled out again, hoping she could hear me. Suddenly I saw a pile of debris that was bigger than the others, broken glass surrounding it. It was the remains of the safe room.

“Mom?!” I yelled, racing over to the rubble, tripping over debris in the process. I stood in front of the pile, looking for any sign of my mom. I started digging through the rubble, broken glass cutting my hands in the process, but I didn’t care. Throwing more rubble away, I found a hand. I pulled the debris off of the person faster, and tears of joy fell down my face when I saw it was my mom.

“Mom!” I cried, kneeling down next to her. Her glasses were broken and she was covered in dust and dirt. But most importantly, she wasn’t moving. 

Or breathing.

“.........mom?”

“ _Nobody said it was easy_

_It's such a shame for us to part_

_Nobody said it was easy_

_No one ever said it would be this hard_

_Oh take me back to the start”_


End file.
